


The Real Hero

by JilyCSLove



Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Baby Fic, F/M, Family Bonding, Gen, Major Spoilers, Peter Parker Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JilyCSLove/pseuds/JilyCSLove
Summary: (ENDGAME SPOILERS.)Pepper is left with a surprise while trying to keep her life together after Tony's death.





	The Real Hero

Pepper Stark sighed as the mask closed over her face and she felt such a relief. Her body literally deflated and without knowing it was coming, tears poured from her eyes. Tears she hadn’t shed since the day it happened. Since the day she told him to rest. 

She had to be so strong. Strong for Morgan and for Peter. Strong for Happy and Rhodey. Strong for Bruce and even Thor. They came around. Tony’s boys. Her boys. And they drank and they cried and she took care of them. 

She was so incredibly exhausted. 

Just so exhausted. 

The suit smelled like him. And she smiled because the smell was fading from her home. Some of his clothes still had it but his pillow. Their sheets. She went weeks before she finally broke down and washed them. 

But she was just so exhausted. And so she sat in his suit, alone in their garage, until she heard someone call for her. And then with one last deep breath she stepped out and didn’t look back as she made her way back to her family. 

 

It didn’t occur to her until Thor made an offhand comment about her competing with him in food consumption. 

She never really paid much attention to Thor’s offhand rudeness. It’s not like he was purposely trying to be that way. But Happy gave her a look and Rhodey had tried to explain to Thor how you just can’t say that to a woman. But then her eyes dropped to Morgan’s and suddenly she knew. She just knew. 

She bought the test that night, sneaking out after Morgan and Peter were passed out in the living room after their movie night. Happy was on the porch with Rhodey, quietly talking. She paused to tell them she would be right back and Happy, of course, offered to go with her. She wrinkled her nose and declined. 

Once the test was in her hand, she couldn’t wait to make the drive back so she went into the store bathroom and peed on the stick. It was a plus sign before she even finished. 

Numb. She felt completely numb. When they found out she was pregnant with Morgan, it had been the first time she had seen Tony smile since the snap. The first time she felt hope for their future. He had been with her every single step through the pregnancy. They had bought the cabin soon after finding out and had made it their home. 

She drove home in silence and walked up the steps to the cabin. Happy and Rhodey still there. She paused, staring through the front door. She couldn’t see the kids but she knew they were there. Peter on his back on the couch, one arm tossed over his head, the other wrapped around Morgan, who was tucked between him and the back of the couch, her head nestled on his chest. She always ended up in Peters arms when he stayed over. Even if Pepper puts her to bed in her own room, she finds her with Peter in the mornings. 

The kid doesn’t mind. Insisted it was fine and she stopped worrying about letting him have his privacy as the two grew closer than any pair of siblings she’s ever known. 

 

“Everything okay Pepper?” Rhodey asks in a quiet voice and she nods. 

She nods and then says the words out loud, “I’m pregnant.” Her breath hitches and she hears them both gasp. She nods again, “Pregnant. I assume I’m five months considering….” her voice goes out and she clears it. 

“Pepper.” Happy is beside her and she crushes her purse strap in her hands. 

“Let’s not tell the kids just yet.” She says nodding to where Morgan and Peter are sleeping. And they both agree to keep it between them.

 

She lies in their, her, bed after Happy helps her get the kids settled in their own. Tears silently slide down her face as she watches a hologram of Tony. It’s on silent, because even though she needs him close, sometimes hearing his voice is just too much for her. It’s one of his holograms from when he was stuck in space. One from the beginning, when he is still optimistic about returning to them. To her. And he is all over the place, his hands moving, his eyes bright as he explains their plan. How he’s certain it’ll work. She has it memorized and can hear his voice in her head as he says the words. 

“You were supposed to be here.” She whispers to him. The hologram leans closer and presses a kiss and she closes her eyes. Five months without feeling his lips on hers. Five months without feeling his arms wrapped around her. 

Five months is far too long and she can’t stand to think the days, months, years will only continue to add up. 

 

\-----

She’s sitting alone in one of the lawn chairs by the lake when a mug of steaming coffee appears in front of her. She glances up from the fog covering the lake to find Peter. She smiles softly at him as she takes the mug and thanks him. He returns the smile and turns to leave but she stops him.

“Peter, join me?”

He only hesitates for a moment, his brown eyes showing surprise. He sits in the other chair, Tony’s chair, and leans forward, his forearms on his knees. He glances over at her, one of his knees starting to jiggle. She reaches out a hand and gently squeezes his arm, “Tony and I spent many mornings out here, just like this. Most of the time we didn’t talk, just remembered. Remembered all we’ve lost, everything we still had.”

Peter sucks in a breath as he drops his head and she slides her hand down his arm, taking his hand in hers and linking their fingers, squeezing hard. He returns the squeeze but doesn’t look back at her. 

“But when we did talk, it was ninety percent of the time about you. Especially before Morgan. He told me so many stories. Probably every single moment between the two of you, he talked about.”

Peter shakes his head and Pepper turns back to the lake but not before she sees tears drop to the ground. He is squeezing her hand even harder now and it’s almost painful but she doesn’t complain. 

She barely knew Peter before. She knew of him, of course from Happy and then Tony himself. She remembers laughing at the way the kid had worked his way into Tony’s heart. How Tony had tried so hard to resist but she had known. Oh had she known. Peter is the reason she began to imagine having children with Tony. Peter is the reason she knew Tony would be a good dad. 

Because he was a good dad already. 

“Morgan may be our biological daughter but you, Peter, were every bit his son in his heart. There was no difference between his love for you and her.”

 

\----

 

Now that she knows, she can’t believe she ignored all the symptoms. Not that she ignored them, just she brushed them aside as grieving symptoms. 

Overly emotional, check.

Exhausted, check.

Nauseous one moment, ravionious the next, check.

It’s quiet at the cabin for the next week and it’s exactly what she needed to get her head wrapped around what would be coming in another four months. But then she goes to her doctor and is given even more shocking news.

“It’s twins.” 

Happy drops the glass in his hand, it shatters on impact and Peter comes sliding out of his room, swinging down to them from the ceiling, before the glass has even finished shattering.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Pepper steps in front of him as he lands, stopping him from stepping on the broken glass in his bare feet.

“What did we say about doing that inside the house, Kid?” Happy chastises and Peter looks sheepish as he tries to explain his reasoning.

“I heard the crash, I thought someone was attacking. I thought ….” his eyes meet hers and he cringes, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Potts … um Stark.”

She reaches up and squeezes his shoulder, “Pepper, Peter. I’m Pepper to you. And as you can see,” She waves behind her at the broken glass, “We’re all just fine here. However, I do need to talk to you and Morgan. Will you go grab her and come back down here?”

“Use the stairs.” Happy says harshly from the floor, where he is picking up pieces of glass.

“Of course, sir.” Peter says and bounds up the stairs loudly, like the teenager he is. 

Happy leaves and returns a moment later with a broom and begins cleaning up, “Twins?” 

Pepper lets out a harsh laugh, “Yes. Boys.” 

Happy pauses looking at her, “Both of them?”

Pepper nods, “Of course he couldn’t just die a hero’s death. He had to leave us all with a parting gift.”

“Sounds like Tony.”

They both roll their eyes and Pepper can’t help the small laugh that escapes her.

 

____

 

When the boys finally arrive in the world, most things are back to normal. Not for her, or the Avengers. But the rest of the world has more or less righted itself. People are no longer walking around as if they’re in a daze. They’re getting their lives back to normal. And she suppose’s in a way she is too. 

But she’s also not. Because when she wakes in the middle of the night with contractions, she plays the last hologram Tony made while on the ship, before informing anyone else she is in labor. The sound is on this time, because she needs his voice and she tells him it’s time. 

He doesn’t answer her. Not the way she wants and she reaches out to him. Her fingers poking through his cheek as he tells her he’s going to go to sleep. 

“Please don’t.” She whispers. But the hologram Tony is quiet as he closes his eyes. 

There’s a soft knock on her door and Peter peeks his head through, “I’m so sorry Mrs., Pepper, I heard his voice and rushed down here, only..” he drops his eyes and she holds a hand out to him. He shuffles in and sits beside her on the bed, taking her hand. He sees the hologram and sucks in a breath, before letting it out. 

“I miss him so much.” Peter says as they both stare at the sleeping hologram. 

“I know you do.” Peter lies his head on her shoulder and she wraps an arm around him as she hugs him closer. 

“I hear you in here at night, listening to his voice. I can hear you cry.”

Pepper sucks in a breath, “Oh Peter I’m so sorry. I forget your Spider senses make you more sensitive to sounds.”

He shakes his head, “Most nights I go on the roof so you can have privacy. You try so hard to be strong for all of his.” He chuckles to himself, “All these big bad superheroes and you’re the one that has to be strong for all of us.” He picks his head up and turns to her, “We should be the ones being strong for you.”

Pepper smiles, as she brushes his hair across his forehead, “You are. All of you are. We all have our moments of weakness and we lean on one another.”

She means to say more. Wants to say more but a contraction hits her and this one is stronger than the others. Peter senses it and jumps up, “Oh God, are you?”

Pepper nods as she grinds her teeth. Finally it passes and she takes a deep breath, “I think we should call Bruce.”

“Right.” Peter is heading for the door

“And maybe wake up Happy,”

“On it.” Peter calls out as he leaves the room. 

 

After that it’s chaos. Controlled chaos but still chaos as Happy flutters around her and then Bruce arriving with Dr. Cho. She sees Rhodey briefly and then the boys are coming and she’s closed off in her room for some time. 

 

She delivers six hours after her first contraction started. Identical twin boys. Both with dark hair and dark eyes. Both screaming as they enter the world. And she knows she has her Tony back times two. 

The boys are a week old and she still hasn’t named them. Everyone is getting anxious and suggesting names. It’s to the point where they’re just throwing pretty much any name they can think of her way. Last time, she did this with Tony and they agreed on a name within a week of knowing the gender. And although she’s not exactly alone in naming her boys this time, she just really, really wants her Tony here to contribute. 

She does know she doesn’t want to give one boy their father’s name and not the other. And she’s not sure she wants to have his name on her tongue so soon. So that is off the table. 

Peter is the one that suggests it one evening when it’s just her, Rhodey, Happy and the four kids. She is breastfeeding one, while Peter is burping the other. 

It’s amazing how fast the kid has caught on. When she first placed one of the boys in his arms, he had looked so incredibly terrified. But as May took nearly a hundred photos, he had started to relax and by the time he held the other twin he was comfortable. 

Peter suggests using Tony’s name as both of their middle names, “That way it’ll be like he’s here again because the only time you’ll use their middle name is when you’re getting onto them.”

“Kid has a point.” Rhodey says and Pepper laughs. 

So she names them. 

Parker and Roman Anthony Stark. 

Peter tears up when she tells him. 

Clint cries when he meets them a week later. She waited to tell him and she’s glad she did. He holds Roman just a little bit longer then he does Parker and that’s okay. 

Peter did the same. 

The boys are very much loved. Not only by her and Morgan and Peter. But by everyone that loved and respected Tony. Pepper worried so much during her pregnancy, about them not knowing their father, but they know him. They hear his name daily as story after story is told to them and Morgan. 

So many stories are told. And as the years go by the stories are less sad and filled with more laughter. 

They see him on the holograms and hear his voice every single day. 

The years start to pass and as they boys learn to crawl then walk, they start to talk and she sees her Tony in them. They are both so incredibly smart. All of her kids are. Peter goes to MIT after high school and still manages being Spiderman and spending every weekend at their house. When he turns twenty-one she gifts him with the CEO of Stark Industries title and everyone hoots and hollers as he stares wide-eyed at her. She smiles and hugs him, whispering in his ear “It’s what he wanted. One of the last things he said to me was if this works, the kid gets it all.”

“But Morgan? The twins?”

Pepper shakes her head as she pulls back but places her forehead against his to keep their conversation private, “They’ll be fine. And if they want a part in the company it’s theirs. But you,” She squeezes his neck, because even after all these years of trying to convince him he’s still too stubborn to see it, “are his first born and it is rightfully yours.”

After that, the alcohol is opened and Pepper leaves with the younger kids before they can see Thor karaoke drunkenly his favorite song (Thunder by Imagine Dragons from 2018. ALWAYS that song). Or Bucky and Sam singing “You’ve Got Me Babe” to a laughing Steve. 

Morgan follows in her big brother’s footsteps. She rebels a bit in her teenage years. Dates a boy they all disapprove of (he doesn’t last long, bad boys don’t exactly like being around the Avengers) and she screams at Peter and Rhodey and Thor after they pull out the muscle, lightening and spiderwebs and scare the boy away. He breaks up with her on his way out the door screaming about how “Any boy would be insane to date you Morgan Stark.”

Morgan in turn screams at them about how they ruin her life being superheroes and always being around and how she wishes they weren’t in her life.

Pepper holds up a hand to silence the men as her normally calm sixteen year old daughter races up the stairs and slams her door. She follows her once she has the twins settled with Peter, a movie and a snack. Rhodey and Thor having already left after apologizing to Pepper. 

Knocking softly on the door, Pepper opens it and steps inside, closing the door behind her. Morgan is laying on her stomach on her bed, her head on her crossed arms, her face towards the open window. It’s Spring and a breeze blows through making the curtains dance. Morgan’s eyes are bright with tears. 

“I didn’t mean it, Mom.”

“They know you didn’t mean it sweetie. They aren’t upset with you.” Pepper sits on the end of the bed and Morgan sits up, crossing her legs and facing her mom. 

“Sometimes I feel like they’re only here because dad isn’t and I,” Morgan looks down at her hands in her lap, her hair falling over her shoulders and covering her face, “And I feel bad because I would rather have Dad here then all of them.”

“Oh sweetie.” Pepper leans over and pushes Morgan’s hair back so she can see her face, “That’s nothing to feel bad about.”

Morgan looks up at her, a tear dropping from each eye, making their way down her cheeks, “Isn't it?” She asks in such a small voice that it’s like she’s four again and Tony is still here. He was always so good at wiping his daughter's tears away. 

Pepper brushes her thumb across one cheek then the other, “I can almost guarantee every single one of them would rather your dad be here then them. They would give anything for you and your brothers to have him here.”

“What about you mom?”

Pepper sighs, “Almost anything. I wouldn’t give up you or Peter or the boys.”

Morgan crawls into her arms and they hold each other for a good while, “Is Peter okay?” Morgan asks after a bit. 

“He’s fine sweetie. But I’m sure he would love to come hug you and talk, you know how he is.” 

Morgan smiles as she pulls back, wiping her face, “Will you send him up?”

Pepper stands and kisses the top of her daughters head, “I love you.”

Morgan smiles, “I love you too, Mom.” And just before she steps out the door she’s hears the words that make her breath hitch “Three thousand.” 

Morgan graduates six months early, on a cold December morning and although she is enrolled for MIT the next fall, she is on a beach in another country twenty-four hours after graduating. She travels for the next eight months and only returns when it’s two weeks before the start of the fall semester. She graduates with her Bachelors in medicine in two years and continues working for Peter while traveling the world, healing millions with their minds and creations. 

 

When the twins are nine years old, Pepper begins to feel the strain of being a single mom. The others don’t come around as often and it’s okay. She one hundred percent understands. Happy is still with her though and Peter takes the kids as often as he can. But then Roman runs away. And although she tries not to panic and tries not to involve the others. When twenty-four hours have gone by and no one has heard from him she begins to question whether he ran away or not and she allows Peter to call in the old and new Avengers. Everyone shows up. And she means everyone. Thor and T’Challa, Hulk, Captain America (young & old), Clint, and the Fantastic Four. Scott and Wanda and even Nick Fury himself walks in a few minutes late as usual and with a scowl on his face but all serious when he asks questions as Peter debriefs everyone. 

It isn’t until they call in Doctor Strange a day later that they find him. T’Challa approaches her after everyone has reassured themselves that he has been found and is okay. He asks permission to speak with Roman alone and of course she allows it. She only learns they talk about the pressure of losing a father and following in his footsteps. This begins a friendship between the two that continues to grow as T’Challa realizes the brilliant mind in the boy. 

The twins graduate high school at fourteen years old, however, Pepper refuses to let them enroll in college She has always felt the disconnect between Tony and the real world (when she first met him and the first ten years she worked for him, you know before the whole Iron Man scene) was because his dad forced him to attend college at such a young age. Fourteen year olds should not be expected to be surrounded by eighteen and nineteen year olds and make realistic sound decisions. 

Instead they intern for Peter and travel with Morgan and became so immersed in the company that by the time they are seventeen, they don’t need to attend MIT, other than to continue the Stark legacy. Parker attempts it for a year before leaving all together and taking up the Iron Man persona, creating such a worldwide phenomenon that it is the number one story on every news outlet for a good two years straight. 

And as much as it terrifies her, if anyone were to ask her, Pepper would have known it would be Parker since he was four years old and he first put the Iron Man mask on his head. 

Roman goes behind the scenes. Creating and helping his brothers with their superhero antics. He spends two years in Wakunda and comes back with far more knowledge then he would have ever dreamed of if he had gone to MIT. He tells Pepper he is far too selfish to wear a superhero cape but she knows that’s not true. He just has more of her in him then his siblings. She explains how it takes a village and that those behind the scenes, like Shuri and Happy and now him, are just as important as those out there doing the hero gig. 

And so her children all grow and bring her grandchildren and she lives a long, good life surrounded by her loved ones. Many go before her, Happy and Rhodey within a couple years of one another. Peter's Aunt May and finally Steve.

She starts to feel the exhaustion again.

But she fights it, pushing through another birthday, smiling as her grandkids graduate high school and carry on the Stark name. Great Grandchildren are born and she holds them in her fragile hands feeling so blessed.

But still the exhaustion is there. And she starts to think maybe she doesn’t have to fight it anymore. 

Stephen Strange comes to her one warm evening and it’s odd because he never visits unless it’s for a mission. They share a warm cup of tea and talk about her kids and grandkids and then he stands to leave. His lays his hand atop of hers and says, “You’ve done so well and you’ve made him so proud. Every single day.”

Tears well in her eyes and she tries to respond but nothing comes out. Strange squeezes her hand, “He is waiting for you. Go home to him, Pepper.”

He is gone before she can respond but she understands and she is ready. She makes her way out to her chair by the lake. There is a fog already rolling in as the sun sets. Soon she sees him, walking towards her. 

Her Tony. 

She stands and his arms wrap around her. And she smiles.


End file.
